U.S. retail market conditions from Q2 2015 to Q2 2018*

Net absorptions for retail markets decreased during the second quarter of 2017, compared to the same quarter of 2016, across all regions. The most significant decrease was in the West (down by 40.9 percent), followed by the South (down by 28.3 percent). On a national level, retail net absorptions decreased by 27 percent. Year-over-year, vacancy rates for retail markets decreased in almost all the regions, with the largest change coming from the Midwest, from 6 percent to 5.6 percent in the second quarter of 2017. For the West, retail vacancy rates remained the same as they were in the second quarter of 2016, at 5.4 percent.

Forecasts show that in the second quarter of 2018 net absorptions are expected to decrease only in the Midwest (approximately 21.8 percent) and in the Northeast (6.2 percent), while the remaining regions are expected to rise. The most significant increase is expected to be in the West (45 percent). Vacancy rates for retail markets are expected to decrease on a national level by 2.7 percent, with a 4.2 percent decrease in the West and decreases ranging between 1.1 and 3 percent in the other regions.